Assad’s Allies Threaten to ‘Respond With force’ in Syria
Russia and Iran say US ‘crossed red lines’ with strike on Syrian air base
Ajoint command centre made up of the forces of Russia, Iran and militias supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the United States strike on a Syrian air base crossed “red lines” and it will respond “with force” to any new aggression.
Last Friday the US fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian air base which it said had been used to launch a chemical weapons attack which killed dozens of civilians earlier in the week.
The attack escalated the US role in Syria and drew criticism from Mr Assad’s allies, including Russia and Iran.
“What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines,” said the statement published by the group on media outlet Ilam al Harbi (War Media).
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, blamed Russian inaction for helping enable the chemical weapons attack it had reacted to, saying Moscow had failed to carry out a 2013 agreement to secure and destroy chemical weapons in Syria.
He said the US expected Russia to take a tougher stance against Syria by rethinking its alliance with Mr Assad because “every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws Russia closer into some level of responsibility”.
Britain also said Russia bore responsibility by proxy for civilian deaths in Syria last week.
“If Russia wants to be absolved of responsibility for future attacks, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin needs to enforce commitments, dismantle Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal for good and get fully engaged,” British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon wrote in the Sunday
Times newspaper.
On Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticised a decision by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to cancel a visit to Moscow later this month, saying it showed a lack of understanding of events in Syria. The ministry also said it showed there was little to gain from talking to Britain, which it said had no real influence over world affairs. Putin, Rouhani says US attack not acceptable Mr Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani said in a phone call that aggressive US actions against Syria were not permissible and violated international law, the Kremlin said.
The two leaders also called for an objective investigation into the chemical weapons deaths in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, and said they were ready to deepen co-operation to fight terrorism, the Kremlin said in a statement on its website. The joint command centre also said the presence of US troops in northern Syria, where Washington has hundreds of special forces helping the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to oust Islamic State militants, was “illegal” and that Washington had a long-term plan to occupy the area.
Many Syrians opposed to Mr Assad’s rule consider Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iranian-backed troops as occupiers seeking to drive out mainly Sunni Syrians from the areas they live in.
They hold Iran and its allies responsible for the displacement of millions outside the country. They also see Russia as a foreign occupier whose relentless aerial bombardment of rebel-held areas has led to thousands of civilian casualties.